Satsui No Worm: Killing Intent
by Angelic visage
Summary: Whilst in the locker Taylor triggers with quite a different shard, awakening a power with its own dark will. She unlocks the power of the Satsui No Hado. She cannot let herself be weak, she must train to be stronger than anybody else. Altpower!Taylor Akuma!Taylor
1. Chapter 1

**English is not my first language, so please let me know of any mistakes in language or grammar, and I hope you enjoy the story.**

1.1

The locker.

Her own locker, forced in by those three bitches.

Desperately squirming, writhing in the filth that they threw in with her. The smell of fetid blood fills her nose every time she breathes in, so strong that she can practically taste it, causing her to retch and splutter, only making it worse.

She has to get out, has to get out _get out_ _ **get out**_!

The metal is as unyielding as before when she hammers and scratches on it, her voice hoarse as she tries with all her might to force the door.

It is useless.

Whimpers escape her lips as she momentarily slumps against the front of her locker, the darkness and stench overpowering her senses and leaving her alone with just her thoughts.

How did it come to this?

The year and a half of bullying, culminating in her being trapped in her own locker.

Emma, Sophia and Madison.

The three bitches responsible for this, but there is nothing that she can do, nothing at all. The teachers and faculty will turn away again and again, Emma's father is a lawyer, Sophia's value on the track team and Madison's cute little act will save them once again no matter what evidence she can present.

She has given up on trying to report them or getting the proper people involved.

Ever since her mother died she has been running on autopilot, just trying to survive and move through life, but they have not let her.

Emma, her former best friend will be there at every turn to spill her secrets, Sophia will trip and push her and Madison will always be there planning some new prank or helping them get away, and there is _absolutely nothing_ that she can do. She could tell her dad, but then what? He would get angry, complain to the school but there would be no evidence, there is never any evidence pinpointing who did this stuff to her.

Not that Danny Hebert really knows what is going on, she couldn't do that to him. He has suffered enough because of her, like mom…

Mom…

Emma still has her flute, her mother's flute that she left her, in the hands of her former best friend.

She has to get it back no matter what, if she ever gets out that is.

No, she will get out!

How long will it be before somebody comes to let her out?

It is a Friday today, she will be trapped here tomorrow and Sunday as well!

Just the thought of it makes her tremble, quake in the feet deep pile of filth that fills her claustrophobic prison, and with a detached, distant sort of horror Taylor Hebert realises that she cannot stop herself from shaking, the rapid and harsh breaths coming out of her mouth growing ever louder in the tight and confined space of the locker.

Taylor has to get out and show them, show those _goddam bitches_!

Her efforts to escape are renewed as she hits and scratches and presses with all her strength against the locker door, the metal pushing and straining under her hands. She will get out!

So close, but the hinges refuse to give.

She. Will. Escape.

She. Will. Get. Revenge.

For just a moment indeed, it would be fair to say that she would _kill_.

Then, something within her breaks.

Unnoticed or unseen, her eyes begin to glow and a red haze rises off her skin as visions of a strange scene, of shards and immense beings pass through her mind.

...

"Get her!"

A woman's scream.

Thrashing, pleading she is brought down by the trio of men.

"What we doing to this one boss?"

"I'll give her some of the good stuff, looks like she should be able to afford it," the tallest of the trio states as he withdraws a needle.

Just as he is about to pierce the skin a chill falls over them. It is like a wave of ice has just been dumped on top of them, pressing down and attempting to crush them as their hair stands on end. Reacting at once the leader of the trio pulls a gun from his jacket and whirls to face the other direction.

"The fuck?"

The other two look up at the figure stood not ten metres away from them.

Tall, matted brown hair.

Covered in blood.

Even in the dim light provided each of them can see the dark red things flaking and falling off of her onto the ground, the stench of something rotten wafting over and filling their nostrils even from this distance. Eyes glowing red stare at them from a face that could best be described as murderous.

Strangest of all though is the red wisps of mist that seem to rise and flicker off her, almost like flames.

"Let go of her."

The growl is harsh and even as it is said the strange red flames pulse and rise off the girl more intensely than before.

"F-Fuckin' cape man!" one of the three shouts but it is disregarded.

"Stay the fuck out of this!" the leader shouts, waving his gun in the woman's direction. Even if she is a cape she looks in no condition to fight covered in all that blood and the obvious black bags under her eyes.

"Let. Her. Go."

Those eyes narrow and the man's heartbeat picks up. The murderous aura around her seems to thicken, a strangling presence that makes the edges of his vision darken and his pulse fill his ears. Those eyes remain fixed on his and every moment he looks at the strange girl the more he feels a strange terror overtake him, a sure knowledge that she wants him dead and nothing else.

For a few moments, nothing happens, the only sound the whimpers of the women his two fellows hold down.

The ominous terror only grows by the second, paralysing them in place.

Behind him he hears the sound of bodies hitting the ground, and looks briefly over his shoulder to see the two men accompanying him twitching on the cold concrete, eyes wide limbs flailing as they try to push away from the girl in front of them. They look like downed gazelles trying to escape a cheetah at any cost.

A rustle of cloth and the man turns just in time to see his outstretched arm gripped by the girl, who has crossed the distance between them in the space of a second.

With a speed barely Human she wrenches his arm downwards and punches him in the stomach with such force that he is lifted off his feet.

His two fellows make to get up and attack wildly, one with his bare hands another with a hastily drawn knife.

The first is sent flying by a single kick connecting with his jaw that breaks bone, the second makes to lunge but before he is even halfway through the movement the girl grabs his arm and uses it throw him into a wall, a single sharp blow to the elbow breaks it and a third renders him unconscious.

She stares down at them. She could kill them, right here, right now…

"Do you have a phone?" Taylor Hebert growls, turning those white glowing eyes on the woman who was just moments away from falling victim to the Merchant gangs attempts to get her addicted to some drug.

"Y-Y-Y-Yes!"

The woman looks up at her saviour with equal parts terror and thankfulness as she desperately scrabbles in her bag for the device. Withdrawing it with shaking hands she passes it wordlessly to the girl, although whether to complete the request or as tribute she does not know.

Wordlessly she punches in the number that almost all Brockton Bay Citizens know off by heart.

"Brockton Bay Police department, how may I help?"

"I've stopped an attack by possible Merchant members." It is more a growl then normal speech that issues from her mouth.

"Are you a cape ma'am?"

This question goes unanswered as glowing eyes look over the three unconscious men arranged haphazardly at her feet. The temptation to end her foes, to strike them down for daring to attack consumes her.

But she pushes the thought away.

"The men might need medical assistance. Broken bones are a definite, concussions perhaps for some of them," she states uncaringly, give's the location and without a further word ends the call.

Without a word, she begins to walk down the street as if nothing at all had occurred.

"Wait!"

Taylor pauses, glancing over her shoulder at the prone form of the woman she saved, still on the ground where she found her. Eyes like those of a deer in headlights stare back, weak and vulnerable, so weak. Just like her, just a few hours ago.

The thought makes the red aura around her pulse, makes her want to turn back and finish the job. A single blow would be all it would take and the three men would be dead by her hand. A wave of instinctive terror rushing through the woman as she stares at the terrifying form of the girl, no older than fifteen or sixteen, old enough to be her own daughter.

"What?"

"I... can you stay? I-I mean, what if they wake up?"

A moment's pause, then the girl turns to face forwards again.

"They won't," she states even as the distant sound of police sirens fills the distant air.

Without another word, she leaves.

...

When Taylor Hebert awakens that Saturday morning it is to find that she is, strangely, dressed only in her undergarments.

Mind snapping into alertness at this fact she then becomes aware of the fact her foot and knuckles sting and ache. Like an absolute bitch.

Sitting up and reaching for her glasses the fifteen-year-old blinks the sleep from her eyes as she tries to remember just why she is in this situation and looks to the side of her bed, where a pile of bloody and reeking clothes sits.

At once memories of the previous night rush back, Emma, Sophia and Madison throwing her into the locker filled with filth, the thoughts of how she would die and the hatred, the _sheer_ hatred she felt for them all.

From there pushing the locker door off with a single effort and sending it across the hall and smashing into the opposite wall. Walking out of school with a strange, single-minded desire to get home, walking straight through gangland without any concern at all, as if all fear had been switched off and meeting that trio of Merchants about to inject something into that woman. The fight-

"I'm… a cape?"

Taylor stares down at her hands, at the knuckles covered in bruises from punches thrown instinctively last night.

How did she even do that?

She has never been to any sort of martial art of self-defence training but she managed to take down three armed men in just a few seconds, broke their bones and disarmed them like it was natural. What sort of power has she gained to be able to do such a thing? Maybe some sort of automatic ability to defend herself? No, then what was the red mist that so terrified them?

She felt no fear whatsoever even though she was staring down the sights of a gun, an apathy towards everything and a desire to fight, to defeat and dominate.

She… she wanted to kill them!

The thought sickens her but at the same time something else within her rebels against that sensation, that she should have done so.

She should have killed them, they will only be back to threaten her another day now.

No!

She refuses to give into those thoughts and pushes them away. She will not kill anybody, not if she can do anything to prevent it!

Is she going insane? Driven by a strange power that she doesn't understand? Should she try to contact the PRT and ask for them to help her?

No, that same part of her that told her to kill rejects the notion at once. She doesn't need the help of others to overcome her demons, she has power, she must grow stronger, stronger than everybody else if she is going to survive in this world! People like Emma, Sophia and Madison will tremble before her, nobody will ever be allowed to do what they did to her again!

Thin flickers of the red mist begin to rise from her body and hurriedly Taylor stamps out those thoughts, and after a moment they fade!

Pushing off the covers with far greater force than intended Taylor stands from her bed and has a shower to remove the smell of rotten blood from her after which she throws her clothes away in a dumpster outside.

When she makes her way downstairs her father is waiting there, sat at the table tapping his foot.

The moment she appears he speaks.

"Where were you last night Taylor?" he asks, voice deceptively calm but all the signs of his temper there.

"I was…"

She cannot tell the truth, cannot let her father know. He will just get angry, begin threatening and trying to do things that will only make it worse! She cannot accept his help, the same force as before refuses it in every way.

"At Emma's. Sorry, I couldn't let you know but the Barnes line is down and I didn't know until I got there."

The lie sounds forced even as she says it but her father nods in relief, not catching her wince at even having to say her tormentors name out loud.

"Good, I was so worried about you."

"It's fine dad, seriously."

"If you say so Taylor, anyway sorry to do this but there's some trouble with the overtime staff at the docks so…"

"It's fine dad, I'll cook dinner."

Soon she is alone again, just her and her thoughts.

Thoughts wondering just what her power is now that she is a cape, as telling yourself 'red mist and a desire to kill people' is hardly a healthy way to refer to your new abilities.

She would much rather have a power that she could use to be a hero, to fight crime and help other people. But at this rate it seems like she will have to restrain her every action for the rest of her life.

Desperate to distract herself from these thoughts she turns on the TV. The background noise is a good distraction, even if it cannot bring her fully away from these destructive thoughts.

Then-

"Want to learn self-defence? Not feeling like you can protect yourself? Then come down me, Sensei Bob, and my Karate Dojo! I'll take you from zero to hero in just three weeks with my amazing complete training package!"

Taylors eyes snap back to the TV where a selection of over the top and choreographed martial arts clips are being shown with an overweight man, no doubt 'sensei Bob' grinning cheesily at the camera as he speaks. As she watches the man and his student's spar and demonstrate their various techniques Taylor raises an eyebrow. Half of them look wrong, they are not proper attacks.

If most of them were in the same situation that she was in last night, then they would probably be dead.

But…

Perhaps this advert has the answer?

She needs to learn control of whatever killing instinct is currently consuming her, find ways to release it in manageable ways so that she does not go on a rampage the next time she goes to school.

Maybe if she takes up martial arts? Many of them promote self-control, so why not?

Strangely the other part, the part of her that just moments ago was telling her to become the strongest and to kill her tormentors quietens down. Not so much that the occasional urges are completely gone, but sufficient that they are not consuming her every thought.

Resolving to find a place to learn to defend herself Taylor feels relief and calm for the first time since waking up, and prepares to leave for the library.


	2. Chapter 2

1.2

 **Welcome to the Parahumans Online message boards.**  
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 **Topic: New hero in Brockton Bay?  
In: Boards ► Places ► America ► Brockton Bay ► Capes  
Argus** (Original Poster) (Veteran Member)  
Posted On Jan 8th 2011:  
So got a friend in the police who told me about some Merchants getting beaten up last night. Apparently, three of the scumbags were trying to inject drugs into a woman when somebody stopped them, a young woman surrounded by red mist who had glowing eyes and managed to drop the three guys in just a few seconds. Friend said they had some nasty injuries, shattered jaw from a kick, one guy had haemorrhaging from a single punch and the other was thrown into a wall. Apparently the red mist causes absolute terror to radiate around her and she seems pretty good at putting people down, so potential master and striker?

But yeah, seems we have a new cape in town! Hopefully she's going to continue taking out gangsters and hopefully stay a good guy!

 **(Showing page 1 of 3)**

► **XnIGHTshadow**  
Replied On Jan 8th 2011:  
Do we have any actual photo's or videos to go with this? Never really know if it's just somebody pretending or another cape in disguise.

► **NeoDeoXXX**  
Replied On Jan 8th 2011:  
 **XnIGHTshadow:** How many female capes are there with glowing eyes and red mist?

► **XnIGHTshadow**  
Replied On Jan 8th 2011:  
Can't think of many but there might be a cape with stranger powers, or something like that. Prefer the idea of a new cape taking out villains to be honest, we have more than enough of them to go around.

► **Argus**  
Replied On Jan 9th 2011:  
Friend said that they're looking into who she is, but they think that she may be a new cape, doesn't sound like anybody that they know of for certain. Three gangsters are facing jail time so seems like Brockton has another hero!

► **NeloAngelo**  
Replied On Jan 8th 2011:  
Too early to say for sure if she is, might just have decided that she didn't want any Merchants around. We might never hear of her again. Anybody actually know if the woman got injected with anything? Maybe she hallucinated all this mist stuff and it as jsut a crazy skilled teenager who managed to get the drop on some Merchants

► **Argus**  
Replied On Jan 8th 2011:  
 **NeloAngelo:** Well, my contact in the police talked to people at the PRT and apparently the woman attacked was completely clean, and with the three criminals it is too early say for sure if she is a hero, might just have decided that she didn't want any Merchants around, know I wouldn't want any of those guys around my area.

► **NeoDeoXXX**  
Replied On Jan 9th 2011:  
Do we actually know any of her powers? So far just seems to be causing fear.

► **XnIGHTshadow**  
Replied On Jan 9th 2011:  
 **NeoDeo:** Think Argus was right with the master/striker idea, at the very least she seems to be able to create some sort of fear aura, but if she managed to cause haemorrhaging then she is either a professional boxer or does a lot of weight training!

 **NeloAngelo:** Well, my contact in the police talked to some of the doctors looking after the Merchants said that the leader, the one with the haemorrhaging, was hit with somewhere around 700 pounds of force. Professional boxers can hit with about 1000 pounds, so this new cape is clearly really strong but not sure if that is from her powers or just lots of training. *Just for reference, that is 200 pounds more than is needed to break the skull.

 **End of Page. 1,** **2** **.**

Taylor Hebert turns her attention away from the Parahuman Online message board with a smile.

Even with the somewhat strange and worrying revelations about her improved strength, it is at the very least nice to know that some people have recognised her efforts to help others.

She can only hope that she can find a way to control that strength. If the thread is to be believed then her punch last night was strong enough to break bone, one misplaced punch could easily leave her a killer.

So far the search at the library turned up all sorts of different martial arts that Taylor Hebert, recently awakened parahuman, could take up. Just within a twenty-minute walk of her house there are dojo's for Tae-Kwon-Do, Jui-Jitsu, Karate, Wing-Chun, Aikido, Judo and a myriad of other forms of self-defence.

Apparently living in a city divided by gangs and supervillains inclines a large number of the population to take up self-defence in their spare time.

Not that it would help if any of them came into contact with most parahumans, unless they got really lucky or had a hefty amount of surprise. Even then there are a good number of capes that a normal person would stand no chance against, like Lung.

Taylor flicks through the various dojo's and their arts with a frown, picking out the ones that look interesting and noting them down.

With each one that murderous instinct flares, and as she reads the descriptions of the different strikes and throws used in each a strange excitement fills her.

If she actually does this then she will be able to protect herself, and if she can protect herself and control her strange new power then maybe she could protect others. She could be a hero, stop people like Emma, Sophia and Madison or even villains, just like she did last night with those three gang members.

The idea of being in a fight again sends a thrilled shiver down her spine.

Another fight…

Shaking her head Taylor continues to peruse the different martial arts available.

She needs something effective, and she watches a couple of videos for each one that she has found each. The various strikes and throws she watches intently, and as Taylor does so her brows slowly grow more and more furrowed. The movements for the techniques look… easy, like something she could do with the same amount of ease as walking of breathing.

As one of the two men on the video demonstrates a snake style Kung Fu strike she finds herself copying it.

Every time she tries it the strike looks exactly like that of the video and seems almost casually easy to the fifteen-year-old.

Does her power perhaps give her an intuitive ability? Last night she was able to beat up those three gang members barely thinking about it, with punches and kicks she had never performed before in her life and the more she watches online the more she learns, like some sort of sponge that can only absorb knowledge regarding how to fight.

Making a note of several potential dojos nearby Taylor stands and leaves.

...

Sensei Hioshi looks over his seated students with narrowed eyes. A good number of them are members of the ABB, he knows that for certain and it is a near guarantee considering that his Karate dojo is in the middle of the gang's territory, but he has always allowed people from all walks of life and races to learn under him

"Kūsankū; sixty count kata, go!"

The line of men and women, both young and old at once begin the series of punches, blocks and kicks as he has taught.

Those who have been around for longer go through it with no difficulty, some of the newer members struggle to remember various steps and falter.

One student however, as always, catches his attention.

The dojo's newest member, Taylor Hebert. The dark-haired youth runs through the movements with an ease and speed that surpasses all of her fellows and with all the determination and force of somebody actually striking an opponent. The two young men either side of her keep their distance just like everybody else in the club, even some of the blackbelts.

For some reason that he cannot understand, the girl, from the moment that she steps onto the mat until the moment she leaves just radiates a sense of danger, like a crouching tiger waiting to strike.

The last time he felt anything like it was when he made an attempt to go for the one hundred-man kumite as a young man, one hundred opponents in a row. He didn't manage it, but he came close.

It is the sort of thing that the old masters would refer to as 'Killing Intent', but until she appeared he never really held much stock in it. The instinctive knowledge when somebody wants you defeated? Yes, but not the sure paralysing certainty that a person wants you _dead_.

For that reason, the man keeps a constant eye on the young girl.

Every time he tells her to restrain herself her face momentarily morphs into a scowl, only to be replaced by calm a moment later, even happiness. Quite why his scolding brings out such an expression he has no idea, as she hardly speaks to any members of the club, but perhaps she is one of that sort of student who comes to learn discipline, rather than simply how to hurt other people.

He certainly hopes so.

...

Taylor keeps up a frown as she works through the kata.

Step across, block, kick to the abdomen, turn block, strike across.

So far Karate has been one of her preferred martial arts, alongside Jui-Jitsu and Muay Thai, the emphasis on different strikes and throws suiting her down to the ground. Over the last three months since that day in early January with the locker she has spent almost every night of the week at a different dojo learning the martial art taught there.

She hasn't kept up with all of them, a few fallen by the wayside when they failed to satisfy the instinct that was born that day in the locker that wants her to grow stronger and impose on any opposition.

Everything she has taken up like a sponge, only needing to be shown a technique or kata once before she could perform it perfectly.

She still has little knowledge of just what her power is, the 'fear aura' as the people on PHO described it, the red mist and glowing eyes only comes out when that instinct, that Killing Intent strikes. But a nagging part of her mind insists that there is more to it if only she can find a way to find out what!

It certainly makes her stronger; one time after a day of being goaded and bullied by Emma, Sophia and Madison she managed to manifest the red aura rose like flames and managed to punch straight through an inch thick slab of concrete with no damage to her hand whatsoever.

All the self-control has helped to keep that murderous instinct down for the most part, allowing her to get through days at Winslow High without attacking any of the trio of Emma, Sophia and Madison.

That is not to say things are quite the same, with her improved reaction times it has been a lot easier to avoid the terrible trios attempts to bully her.

The murderous instinct flares again at the thought of her tormentors and she forces it down ruthlessly. It fights back, it wants to be released but she manages to quast it, for now.

She feels the need to go out and test her strength, and tonight she will do so.


	3. Chapter 3

1.3

Brockton Bay docks.

It is quite unfortunate, Taylor Hebert thinks distractedly, that they have fallen into such a state. The collapse of Atlantic shipping thanks to Leviathan really hit the area hard, and with the main source of industry disappearing over the space of just a few months the warehouses and cranes of the docks fell silent.

It is amazing that her father has managed to keep things sort of going, really.

 _'_ _Focus!'_

At once she snaps back to alertness.

Keep her mind clear.

There could be Merchants or other gang members anywhere, and if she is going to defend herself and act like a hero then she needs to remain constantly aware.

Anything could happen at any moment.

A careful look around her.

Nothing.

There is nobody in sight, not even a dockworker hurrying back home after an extended shift.

The docks are completely devoid of any life.

During the day there would be people running about or strolling along, the daylight giving the false impression of safety from the various gang members that are constantly on the look-out for some way to rise up the ranks of the criminal underworld, whether through drugs or violence.

Taking a breath, she reaches down and tightens the belt of her gi.

She does not have a costume yet but her martial arts outfit should be enough, at least that way her dad won't question if she comes back with a bit of blood on it. Tied around the lower part of her face is an old scarf. She needs to find something more appropriate before she can properly become a hero, but the urge to fight, to try out her new strength was just too strong, and the murderous instinct has only been getting stronger.

Still, at this rate she will not find any crime to interrupt-

A flash of light.

Even with her nerves on tentahooks she cannot move out of it, and in a moment the dark dockyards are gone, and she is left blinking into darkness.

She is not contained, that is for certain, but where in the hell is she?

Already she can feel the first hints of that instinct taking over, the adrenaline filling her veins and hands curling into fists.

"Well folks it seems we have a new challenger!"

The voice, amplified by a set of gigantic speakers is accompanied by a burst of light. High above Taylor a dozen stadium lights turn on to illuminate the room she is in. All of it is metal, the walls ceiling and floor all unpainted, rough sheet metal and columns. Four huge, bunker like doors are set in the walls, but bar that there is nothing else present. High above the ring a pair of young men sit dressed as commentators in a sealed glass booth.

"Well Leet, I have no idea just who our new challenger is but she seems raring to go! Just look at that expression, the fearsome determination to give the fans a fight of a lifetime! I feel like we might have somebody who can beat the current winning streak of three!"

Dimly, Taylor realises just who she has been caught by. Uber and Leet, both small time criminals who create situations based around videogames and upload their various antics online.

They never get more than a slap on the wrist for their antics.

Somehow, she has managed to get embroiled in one of their schemes.

"Damn right Uber. For anybody just joining in, our lucky competitor here will be taking part in a tribute to the old Beat 'em Up games, she has to fight for her life against stronger and stronger waves of enemies created by my follow commentator's latest creation! When she's beaten, she'll be returned safe and sound to where she was found, no injuries incurred, no fuss no muss!" he enthusiastically shouts.

If Taylor had something heavy to hand she would throw it at the man.

"Competitor, do you have anything to say before the games begin?" Leet demands.

"When I get hold of you both I'm kicking your asses."

Her voice is a growl.

A hiss from a phantom audience.

"Uber and Leet TV takes no responsibility for the statements of our competitors! Anyway, our last competitor managed to kill _three_ mooks before he was brought down, let's see how our new challenger fares!"

With that a phantom audience roars as the four huge blast doors raise.

Behind each is a black void filled with rapidly cycling numbers from which four identical muscled figures emerge.

Nondescript with featureless faces and bodies covered in bulging muscle.

"Round one. Fight!"

With that the four charge.

...

"I think that Uber and Leet have bitten off more than they can chew."

"What have those two clowns done this time?" Gallant asks with a sigh.

"You know that 'Smash TV' game they do?"

"Unfortunately, we still have yet to track them down for it. Definitely should be an assault, kidnapping and several other charges on top of that."

"Yeah well, it seems they trapped a cape this time. She's on wave thirteen and it doesn't seem like she wants to stop."

Now that gets his attention.

Focusing on the screen the first thing he notices is the bodies. There is at least a few dozen of them, and the injuries are not pretty. On top of the pile of dead mooks stands a female figure shrouded in dark red mist, eyes white and glowing with a barely controlled fury.

She is also covered in blood.

"Does Piggot know about this?" he asks, struggling to take his eyes off the bloodbath on the screen.

"She's watching it in her office, has Miss Militia trying to work out just who the newbie is. Dragon is trying to track it but it seems like a new piece of tinkertech to jam their signal," Kid Win replies.

On screen one of the remaining enemies for the wave tries to attack her from behind.

Gallant blinks as, in a movement more like a blur the cape turns and punches the enemy in the head.

The mook is propelled backwards as though hit by a car.

"Striker?" he asks Kid Win, who has taken the box of popcorn that was formally in Clockblockers hands.

"Probably. Got some brute in there as well, she took a crowbar to the back of the head earlier and it just made her angrier."

"Any other powers?"

"She's terrifying."

Gallant looks sharply towards Vista, who has just emerged from her own room and is making her way towards the sofa to watch as well.

"You shouldn't watch this Missy."

The look he receives from the thirteen-year-old Ward is not impressed.

"She's not fighting real people."

"It's still not something someone young should watch, she's still effectively fighting for her life out there!"

Yet instead of leaving Vista crosses her arms.

"I'm not going, she threatened to hunt down Uber and Leet and I want to see it happen."

Gallant sighs and lets it slide.

With a morbid curiosity he watches as the cape onscreen grabs a mook and uses him to beat another one to death before throwing him across the room with all the ease of a child petulantly throwing a toy.

"Err, well it seems our friend has cleared another wave! Well bring another one out soon folks, Leet just has to do a few repairs to the machine!" Uber promises, the worry in his voice evident as the girl looks towards the camera.

Gallants heart skips a beat and instinctively he pushes himself into his seat.

"See? Terrifying," Vista states bluntly.

"Some sort of master effect?"

"Yes. Piggot thinks she may be the mysterious cape from a few months ago, good at fighting and can cause fear with that aura of hers. The effect only lasted as long as the aura was there though."

Gallant nods.

No doubt they will all have to go through stranger/master protocols after this. The logical part of his mind tells him that he should probably be in them right now.

Just looking at the girl makes him feel uneasy!

"Shit, Uber its breaking up!"

...

Taylor grits her teeth as she puts down the last opponent of the wave.

She feels exhausted, her body aching where it has been struck Her lips are cut, knuckles split and bloody.

But she feels _alive_.

The adrenaline pumping through her veins is the best thing she has felt for ages, the sensation of punching the mooks as close as she can get to hitting real people without concern for the damage she will do to them. She can strike without fear, can kick a man so hard his insides rupture.

She cannot think about anything else other then the next few moments, and everything else is gone and meaningless.

That murderous instinct is both satisfied and demanding more, demanding that she push herself further and see just how far she can go.

She wants to keep fighting until there is nothing left.

Looking up at the presenter's box she spies the panicking form of her captors. Leet is desperately working to repair the heavily smoking machine that has generated this illusion or pocket dimension they are inhabiting. Right now she doesn't care how it works, only that it is still functioning.

That instinct is calling to her, but this time it is different.

She brings her hands back to her waist, fingers apart and facing one another to form a sort of cage.

Acting more according to instinct than any knowledge she imagines that murderous instinct flowing to her hands. It condenses, pulses. Were Taylor to look she would see a sphere the size of a fist burst into being between her hands, one which steadily grows as she focuses.

"Hadouken!"

The ball of energy shoots forward, straight from her hands towards the target, the machine beside Leet.

It is only at the last moment that Uber spots the rapidly approaching ball of light and energy and pulls his companion away from the machine and drags him to the floor.

The ball smashes into the machine.

Metal distorts, and whilst it does not do a great deal of damage it is still sufficient to tip the machine over the edge. Smoke billows forth as sparks fly, and after a few seconds it stops working all together.

Taylor frowns.

She was expecting… more.

That murderous instinct flares.

It _can_ do more.

She just needs to train more, needs to grow stronger and push forward.

The illusion dissolves and with a yelp the two capes fall from their disappearing commentators box, as do the dozes of bodies. The smooth metal walls fade to reveal the dilapidated form of a warehouse interior.

"Was that a fireball!"

"We're fucked and that's the first question you think of! The machines busted and the cameras still running!"

Taylor glances the cameras way. No need for that now.

Another 'hadouken' sees its lens shattered and the camera toppled away from them. Again, the effort feels off. Raw, unhoned.

Turning her attention back to the two capes she begins to walk up to them, releasing her murderous aura in full.

Both freeze in place like deer caught in headlights.

She should make good of her promise and rough the two of them up, show them not to mess with her. She should give them such a beating they will never even think of harming another person with their stunts.

Her aura flares.

She should kill them.

The instinct is egging her on. Just one good punch each and she could remove her two opponents from the fight, stop them from ever challenging her again. It would be easy, as easy as killing all those that the machine generated,

But… she came out tonight to become a hero.

She has allowed herself to give in to that murderous instinct. Forcibly she restrains herself, through pushing down the desire to kill and destroy the two parahumans in front of her.

She needs more control. She needs more self-restraint.

"I'm going to give you a choice."

"W-What?"

"You help me and I let you go," she growls.

"And the other option?"

She cracks her knuckles.

"W-We'll help!"

...

"Piggot to Armsmaster, head down to the docks at once. Ignore the previous orders to find Uber and Leet."

"What's the situation?"

"Lung, early reports indicate the Undersiders are involved. We're sending reinforcements."


	4. Chapter 4

1.4

"Hadouken!"

The glowing sphere splashes against the mook and throw the lifeless imitation of a human being off balance. That one was stronger than before, perhaps her irritation is feeding her strength?

"Again!"

"You should probably take a break y'know, I need to tune up the machine."

"I didn't spare you guys so that you could stand around talking. Fix it whilst I practice."

The words muttered under Ubers breath are probably not pleasant. Taylor ignores that as another group of mooks materialise in front of her, standing still and without even breathing, more akin to store mannequins than living people. It is somewhat unnerving to see them up close without the adrenaline pumping through her veins, the knowledge that if she does not move within a second, they will attack.

Once again Taylor focuses.

Feeling that well of power within her she begins to direct it, feels it move up from her navel and along her arms to her hands where it pools, collects. With a push it fills the space between them, a flickering orb, larger than the one she managed when she first used it.

She throws it forward.

It collides and barely pushes the illusionary mook over.

Her irritation rises.

Why isn't it working! She knows she can do more with the technique, more than these weak little spheres.

She can feel the murderous intent again.

Its conscious, whatever it is. She has frankly no idea, only that it is what she needs to grow stronger, become a better hero. She can fight, she can take a hit, but there are capes in Brockton Bay that can turn into dragons, fire metal spears and turn into gigantic metallic wolves. She needs _more_.

 _Mocking._

With a growl she gathers her energy once again, allowing her irritation at the source of her power to seep into the technique. The sphere pulses and darkens.

"Hadouken!"

This time the hadouken sends the mook flying into the wall a half-dozen feet away.

"That one, err, looked good."

Leet, who is stood off to the side regards her warily. She can feel his eyes on the back of her head. It is not like she wanted to be consorting with criminals, but practicing her new technique against civilians would be dangerous and get her into trouble with the PRT.

Taylor scowls.

She doesn't want to rely on the murderous intent like that, not after how lost in it she became last night.

When she allows the murderous desire to fill her mind and strikes whilst focusing on it she can punch through concrete, can run and jump far and higher than normal certainly.

Judging by that last one it is not the power, but the way she performs the technique that is wrong…

With that last hadouken she used the murderous intent to fuel it, did not try to purely use the power within to create it. Perhaps the murderous intent and the energy are different? The intent always seems to come from her thoughts, like an emotion that is both part of her and divorced from her own thinking. It does not have a physical location like the energy, ki or whatever it is that she projects in her hadouken.

But she has been thinking of the intent and the energy she uses to create the hadouken as the same thing, just operating in the same way.

Has she been going about this all wrong?

Maybe they are separate, and the energy is the source of the power and the murderous intent just knows how best to use it, can enhance it.

"You're doing that… um… aura thing again."

Blinking Taylor looks away from the last mook.

Leet has moved a bit further away, and Uber is hiding behind the machine. It takes a moment for her to notice the red mist rising off her skin, and with a calming breath it ceases.

"You should probably take it easy, you might end up damaging your muscles if you train too hard," Leet announces.

Taylor glares his way, but the man merely stares back.

Her arms do ache, and even with her improved toughness some of the injuries she took the other night still hurt. Her knuckles were so bloody and bruised she's had to wear gloves over the bandages!

"So why are you so intent on training? Seems like there's much better things to be doing."

"I need to be strong, and if I cannot use my power right then I'm more at risk."

And more of a danger.

"But you didn't know how to how that hadouken thing until you tried fighting, right?"

She frowns.

"Yeah?"

"I don't know, maybe you can grow stronger through fighting lot? Or being in situations where you need a technique?"

Now that would make sense.

The murderous intent only guided her into making that first hadouken when she needed to be able to attack at range… will it grow stronger the more she has to fight? Will she be like Lung, who grows more powerful the longer a fight goes on, from what his Parahumans Wiki page said?

"There's one way to find out," she muses with a look towards Uber, who takes the hint and begins to fiddle with the machine. "Still, why are you helping?" she asks Leet.

A wry look.

"Because you threatened to beat us up if we didn't, and I saw you cave in the equivalent of a man's skull last night?" Taylor winces. "Also, you've given us lots of great ideas for our next video."

"No abductions."

Raising both hands the man puts on what Taylor can only presume is supposed to be an innocent expression.

"Yeah yeah we won't be, err, volunteering anybody else! Don't worry, we learned our lesson when you."

"Good."

Another half hour of practice, silent bar her shouts and Uber imputing commands into the machine.

…

Meditating, Taylor decides, is a tedious activity.

Even if it helps her focus she finds it just so dull.

She could be training. Could be practicing.

Its night, her homework for class tomorrow is finished and with nothing else to do she has taken up a seat on her floor to try and calm and relax herself before bed.

She will be meeting up with Uber and Leet tomorrow again to train, and even if she did not discover any new techniques when they switched the training over from Hadouken practice to fighting off more realistic opponents. She preferred it, even if it did bring back unpleasant memories of the other night, fighting for her life against those illusory bastards.

Still, it gave her the opportunity to take out her anger.

So many of her dreams have been filled with violence recently.

Will she become consumed with murderous rage?

Every second she is awake she can feel it, that murderous intent. Driving her forward to grow stronger, develop new techniques but also to fight, crush and destroy.

Realising that her focus has again been broken she redouble her efforts to bring it back, but the more she focuses on focusing the more she loses her ability to focus on focusing. A self-perpetuating cycle.

But she _knows_ that there is more.

Briefly when she focuses she can gain glimpses, her muscles twitch to replicate techniques that normal humans could not perform but she can, techniques that could.

Names come to mind as they flash by; Goshoryuken, Hyakkishu, Ashura Senku, Misogi, Shun Goku Satsu.

But she cannot access them!

Letting out an irritated huff she rises from her seat and traipses downstairs.

Her father is sat at the table, looking somewhat worn as he looks over a pile of papers. Striding past she pulls open the fridge with just a bit more force then is probably healthy for the hinges she grabs one of the protein drinks she made up earlier.

Taking a sip, she glances at her father. She could feel his gaze on her back as she retrieved the drink, the hairs on the back of her neck rose and ever since the bullying at Winslow started she has gotten far more used to relying on those instincts to try and avoid trouble.

Fat lot of good it helped.

"Hey dad."

"Hey Taylor, you not at any of your martial arts tonight?" he asks, looking up from the papers he is looking over. Dockworker stuff no doubt, probably another application to try and get the ferry going again.

"No, I dropped Aikido remember."

A small, somewhat strained smile.

"Taylor… you're not pushing yourself to hard with this are you? I barely see you until late most evenings now."

"I just want to be able to protect myself dad."

"Is this about the locker?"

What can she really say to that?

"I guess…" she says noncommittally. She gained her powers because of those three pushing her into it, and she started training because she wanted to be able to use her powers to stop people like them.

She forces a smile for him.

"Training helps me forget about it, and I like the idea of being able to protect myself."

Danny Hebert smiles.

"I understand," he pauses. "Some of the boys have equipment they don't use anymore, I know Kurt has an old punching bag, if you want it I could probably convince him to lend it."

She could train at home? Shame he couldn't mention this earlier!

She smiles.

"That would be great dad, thank him for me!"

Her father is a good man, even if he would probably struggle to accept the idea of her putting herself in danger as a hero. She can only dread to think what he would do if he knew about her fighting against Uber and Leet the other night, probably call on half the Dockworkers to hunt them down and beat them to a pulp.

No, it is much better not to tell him.

…

The Silver Dragon Karate Club.

Taylors favourite of the several dojos and clubs she attends. No messing around, no worthless techniques. Everything taught is useful to her, even if it is unimaginatively named and located right in the centre of ABB territory.

She would be confident in saying that every member is a member of the ABB or hopeful to join.

It took a good few weeks and broken noses before the other members would accept her.

The sensei as ever looks them over with cold eyes.

"Spar."

Most clubs would use protective gear.

This one does not.

Students begin pairing off, some speaking, others just nodding to the one next to them and getting up to begin. As usual Taylor is left at the end alone. Usually the last member who could not find a partner would grudgingly spar with her at this point, but today there is nobody else.

There is only one other left unoccupied, the sensei. He always insists on having a partner.

Taylor has never gone up against him before.

She has never seen him leave a sparring partner in a good state before, they always end up bloodied or cowed within moments. Most of them do not even survive a single hit. The murderous instinct flares with a perverse joy at the prospect.

Squaring her shoulders Taylor walks up to the man. For a moment he does not turn to face her, as if not noticing or not caring that she is there.

When he does, the cold eyes that regard her are hardly impressed. Like every other time.

"What is it, girl?"

"I want to spar, Sensei."

The tattooed man turns to face her fully, face transforming into a scowl.

"You are weak."

Anger flares.

How dare he! He has seen her spar, seen her take down his more experienced students and he calls her weak.

Before she has thought it through Taylor draws her hand back and socks him right in the jaw. She holds back a bit, not hitting with the same force she did with Uber and Leets mooks but still enough to down most opponents.

The man barely flinches, head turning with the force of punch but remaining stood and with crossed arms.

A moment passes as silence falls. She feels vindicated.

 _Wham_.

Stars pass across her vision.

It is like the side of her face was just hit by a freaking train.

She stays standing, her power preventing her from crumpling like a paper crane like so many of her fellows have under the man's blows.

She punches him right back.

This does not so much as cause the sensei to blink as they continue to trade blows. He takes every punch, even the ones when she uses more of her strength, in fact he seems to only grow more dismissive of them as he only strikes harder as she moves to deflect or avoid the punches and kicks he sends her way.

The other students are watching now, but Taylor does not have time to even register them.

A solid punch to the gut sends her flying, she somehow manages to land on her feet, sliding a good few inches. The murderous instinct forces her to stay straight, to breathe and keep her eyes on her opponent and keep her hands ready.

The sensei does not approach, only crosses his arms over his broad chest.

He does not look dismissive, but not impressed either. There is something calculating behind those eyes.

"Hit me with all you've got."

Breathe in, breathe out. Get rid of the pain in her gut. Focus.

Straightening fully, she stalks up to him and glares.

She could use one of her hadouken's on him. It would hit hard, although not as hard as she knows it could hit.

But doing so would reveal herself as a cape

 _'Hit with all you've got'_.

The intent is whispering to her again, directing her.

Another technique? Why couldn't she come up with them when fighting against Uber and Leet's illusions?

Clenching her hand into a fist she brings it to her hip as she comes within a few feet of her sensei. She directs all her strength, every little bit of petty anger towards the trio and the sensei's unimpressed expression into the uppercut, pushing off with her feet to give it extra force.

All the training see's it snap out just right, at the correct angle to prevent her wrist taking the full strain of the blow whilst ensuring that all her weight and power is behind it.

The punch hits true, right under the sensei's jaw. This time his head whips upwards as he if forced off the ground, Taylor following as her body leaps into the air with the force of her strike.

"Goshoryuken!"

Taylor feels something _move_ under her fist with a sickening ' _crunk'_ that she more feels than hears. Her body turns fully in the air, just how much power did she put behind it to go flying like that?

A loud crash, and she looks up to see the sensei lands on the mat, flat on his back.

Were Taylor to look around she would see the other students backing away and one particular man, who always stands at the back with a covered face collapsing to ash to and reappearing closer.

Oh god, did she kill him?

She knew she was stronger then a normal person, had a way to practice without harming others and in a moment of anger she threw it away by using her full strength against a perfectly normal person.

The murderous intent can only give her tools to murder. _Goshoryuken_ , the strongest punch she can manage.

For a few moments there is dead silence. One could hear a penny drop.

A growl.

The man rises.

He should not. No normal person should be able to take that blow without falling unconscious or much worse.

The sensei reaches up and relocates his jaw.

Unease fills her gut as the man's eyes find her. He almost seems taller and broader then before, and the air is suddenly uncomfortable warm.

The silence is broken by the sensei speaking, voice gruff.

"The rest of you continue. Girl, join in."

The class continues like any other session, but Taylor can feel the sensei's eyes focused on her. When the sparring finishes they perform kata, then strikes just as with every other session, as if she had not just maimed the sensei.

When it comes time to finish he speaks up with a look her way, breaking the normal routine of lining up and bowing.

"Girl, stay behind."

Taylor does so, waiting whilst the others file out. She can feel their eyes on her back as they do so, can hear the whispered conversation.

When it is just the two of them the sensei speaks again.

"That punch could kill," he announces, voice low as he stares right into her eyes. He does not rise from his position, does not give any indication or anger or distress at all from this information like her other senseis would.

There is a pregnant pause.

That gaze is intense.

"You challenged me sensei."

It is a stupid thing to say, the last thing she needs is more enemies. Even if she can just quit and leave the dojo it would hardly be a good idea to harm somebody who is undoubtedly a member of the ABB. Yet she cannot bring her voice to sound like it is apologetic.

The man raises an eyebrow.

"From now on you shall attend the seniors class as well."

Relief and anticipation flows through her.

"Yes, Kenta-sensei."


End file.
